Page 7 of Forty and Fighting Dirty
IknewwhoMila was looking at. In those three seconds, all the feelings that I’d tried to brush off came rushing back with full force. The anger. The outrage. Even the underlying nervousness and feeling of inadequacy at re-entering the workforce after so much time away.
All I had to do was turn around and confirm my worst suspicions. As my heart thundered, I spun slowly, sucking in a breath through my teeth, trying to fill lungs that had suddenly turned to stone.
Leaning against the doorway, cool as could be as he brought a paper cup from Peak Coffee to his lips, was the line-cutting, arrogant, full-of-himself jerk that I’d so valiantly stood up to this morning.
“Rhett,” Mila said, artificially bright. “Good morning.”
“Not sure I agree,” came the dark response. The man’s eyes were still burrowing into me—and Iknew. I just knew that this was the very wealthy man who’d bought a dilapidated ski resort in a small town in Colorado with the intention of injecting new life into the area. The man who’d taken a chance by hiring an interior designer with a decade-long gap on her resume.
This man was my boss, Rhett Baldwin.
My savior. The one to whom I owed my fresh start. The visionary who didn’t discriminate against single moms. The man I’d insulted and sassed and stood up to just a few minutes ago.
I was so, so,soscrewed.
Because Rhett Baldwin was a big deal in this town. It hadn’t been hard to deduce his sterling reputation by the way peoplereacted when I told them where I’d be working. My new landlord, an older woman with four grown kids—three of them had scattered to far corners of the country, as she’d informed me within minutes of meeting me—had sighed and smiled when I told her I’d be working at the resort. Her exact words were: “That Mr. Baldwin—he’s a good egg. Left, made his fortune, then came right back home to lift us all up with him. Yes he did.”
I’d tried to leverage that goodwill to extend the three-month lease she’d given me, but my landlord needed the money from short-term rentals during the ski season. She’d promised to see what she could do, though, seeing as I was working for Mr. Baldwin.
That wouldn’t happen once she heard about my confrontation at the coffee shop this morning. And shewouldhear about it, I was sure.
When I’d signed my kids up to school and met the principal, she’d given me a sharp nod and said, “Rhett saved this town from ruin. Not everyone agrees with his ski resort plans, but I think it’s a good thing he’s doing.” From that point on, she’d softened toward me. When she introduced me to Nate’s teacher, Ms. Diane, she’d said, “This is Piper Darling. She’s working over at the ski resort, redesigning the lodge with Rhett Baldwin,” and the teacher’s face had broken into a smile. Rhett had paid for Ms. Diane’s daughter’s medical bills after she’d blown out her knee playing volleyball. That daughter was now playing D1 college volleyball on a full-ride scholarship, a path that had been open to her based on Baldwin’s kindness and generosity.
The man was unofficial royalty in Lovers Peak. And in front of a dozen people this morning, I’d verbally smacked him down.
I wassogetting fired.
Which meant no one else in this town would hire me. Which meant moving away again—more moving costs, possibly breaking my lease, starting the job hunt all over, pulling the kids out of schoolagain…
This was bad. This was so,sobad.
“How’s the muffin?” my boss asked, nodding to the crinkled brown paper gripped in my white-knuckled fist.
I blinked at him, then looked down at the bag. “Haven’t tried it yet.”
“Huh,” he said, pushing off the doorframe. His coffee cup dangled in one big hand as he prowled closer. “You wanted it so badly, though.”
“I was worked up,” I replied, and I wasn’t sure if I was defending my right to eat my baked goods at my own pace or somehow apologizing for the scene I’d caused this morning.
“I noticed,” he said, and came to a stop just a couple of feet away from me, on the edge of what was a comfortable distance for two near-strangers.
Pushing the boundaries of proper behavior—again.
My eyes narrowed. “You cut in line,” I accused.
“I own the coffee shop.”
Taken aback, I was silent for a beat. Then heat rose up my cheeks. Still, did owning the coffee shop excuse that kind of behavior? Gritting my teeth, I set my jaw. “I don’t see how that’s relevant, Mr. Baldwin.”
“Oh, we’re being polite now, are we?”
“I can call you one of the names I’ve been using in my head, if you prefer.”
His grin flashed so quickly that I almost missed it, and I resented that he was enjoying sparring with me. He was obviously full of himself, and no matter how well he filled out those jeans, I wasn’t going to fall for his charm the way the rest of the townsfolk had.
I’d fallen for a man’s charm before, and it wasn’t going to happen again.
Mila cleared her throat. “I was just about to give Piper her paperwork…”
